I just cant pick one!!!!

[Timormi]

I have been trying to decide which video card to go with. I have been debating for about 2 weeks now. Should i buy a 9500 Pro now for $178 or buy the 9700 Pro for $302 on April first. They are both good cards, and I need one of the 2 for PS. They both run PS, but I just dont know if the difference between them is great enough to pay an extra $100 for the "better" one. That is in quotes because i know it is better, but better for the price difference. Please leave feedback!!!!

[dukeacem]

For $150 you aren't going to get that much better gameplay from 9700.

[Trebor95]

the 9700Pro will be noticeably better in higher res' with AA/AF without A/AF the Radeon 9500Pro is your card :)

depemds if you want it to run games with full graphics in the top resolutions :)

[Drex]

What is AA/AF?

[SpaceDrake]

Anti-Aliasing / Anisotrophic Filtering. The former refers to the method of "blending" pixels in an image together to soften it (I.E. get rid of those annoying jaggies that a lot of games sometimes have.) Anisotrophic Filtering is a method of filtering textures when they're rendered onto a polygon, and it can increase the quality of textures at a distance and when viewed from an angle.

The implementation for both on the Radeon 9700 PRO is insane. It is the best in the industry, period. Most cards get bogged down when Anti-Aliasing is used, and when both AA and AF are used framerates plummet. The 9700 PRO takes barely any hit at all from anti-aliasing (partially due to the way the card does it), and at lower resolutions practically no performance hit at all from AF.

Frankly, Timormi, if you have the money to burn go for a 9700 PRO. 'Tis the holy grail. You won't be disappointed with it if you use it.

[zenthor]

SpaceDrake
youve just convenced me to save na extra 60$ and buy the ati radeo 9700 pro:p

[Timormi]

i need more feedback!!!!

[SpaceDrake]

What more do you want to know? We can tell you a lot, if you'd just tell us what you're interested in. ;)

[Zatrais]

Radeon 9700 pro....

Why, whitout listing alott of technical reasons...

There is no substitute for raw power =)

[Civilian]

Timormi - Post your system specs. That might help us with your decision. If you have a weak processor, it may be pointless to spend the extra money to get the 9700 Pro.

But I can tell you, with my 9700 Pro, in BF1942 I rarely go below 85 FPS and I usually stay steady around 95.

[Timormi]

System:

AMD XP 1900+ 1.61 GHz
512 SDRAM DDR-SDRAM


thats prolly all you need to know, but if there is more just tell me.

[Zatrais]

9700 pro for you.... you have the hardware to use it for what its worth

[Timormi]

awsome!!! im purchasing one tomorrow. Thanx for all your help guys!!! You can still post your thought, cuz i will still pay attention to what you guys say.


thanx again!

[zenthor]

thanks for all the info its helped me to il proabbly end up buyign one when i get enough saved up

[SpaceDrake]

For some more information on the card from my favorite review site (and they're quite non-biased):

The Review: http://firingsquad.gamers.com/hardware/radeon9700/default.asp

Review of an alternate version of the card (reccomended!): http://firingsquad.gamers.com/hardware/tachyon9700/default.asp

An article on how the 9700 PRO's method of Anti-Aliasing works (good read even for the vets): http://firingsquad.gamers.com/hardware/multisamp/ (EDIT: ah, pardon. I was under the impression that the 9700 PRO uses Fragment Anti-Aliasing. It does, in fact, use multi-sampling AA. For the Fragment AA article, go here: http://firingsquad.gamers.com/guides/fragmentaa/default.asp )

[Synergy]

ok order this EXACT one, Radeon 9500 pro (http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=320702), as it is a proven overclocker that will go to the 9700 specs with a simple driver tweak. make sure you get the red one with the memory in an L shape and if you dont send it back and demand that one as they have tried sending the black one out to people.

[Timormi]

to late i already ordered the 9700 PRO

[Civilian]

Excellent, you are gonna love it. You made a very good choice.

[BurningSpear]

civilian, post yer specs so i can see what i need to upgrade to get 85fps in BF1942

[Zatrais]

Originally posted by Synergy
ok order this EXACT one, Radeon 9500 pro (http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=320702), as it is a proven overclocker that will go to the 9700 specs with a simple driver tweak. make sure you get the red one with the memory in an L shape and if you dont send it back and demand that one as they have tried sending the black one out to people.

Hmm, got a link to that? Last time i checked you needed to replace the bios in order to unlock the 4 additional rendering pipelines

[OneManArmy]

I was just about to post that, To OC the Radeons you have to update the BIOS, because the default one on the cards won't allow it. And I'll be damned if I'm flashing my Gfx card. my 9500 pro is fine as it is...

[Zatrais]

You can OC a radeon whitout flashing the bios but

I'm pretty sure you can't mod a 9500 to 9700 whitout flashing the bios and OC'ing

[OneManArmy]

yea thats what I meant, the new radeons (9500 9700) :)

[Civilian]

P4 2.8 GHZ
WD 120 GB HD
512 MB PC1066 RDRam(I just ordered 512 more)
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro

I just upgraded from the Catalyst 3.1 to 3.2 and the 3.2 is more stable. I seem to get 1-3 more fps with the new drivers. Bravo ATI.

I guess it's still not enough to get into the beta. :rolleyes:

[Timormi]

whooooooo hoooooo!!! a $106 dollar 9700 Pro!! I LOVE THE GOVERNMENT!!! Tax returns, gotta love em!!! I place im ordering from is out of stock, and if they dont get stock in this week, im gonna have to go with the uber top of the line one with a built in fan which makes it quieter :eek:

[Timormi]

whooo hoooO!!!! my dad found one for only $275!!! thats an $81 video card!!!! SWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTT:drools: